RUSSIAN EXPERT ON FUTURE RELATIONS BETWEEN VATICAN AND ORTHODOX CHURCH

MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - Head of the center of social and religious research of the European Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of History Anatoly Krasikov believes that the new Vatican leadership will not be so willing to cooperate with the Russian Orthodox Church.

"It is hard to say how the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church will be developing in the future," he said commenting on the death of Pope John Paul II.

"John Paul II's attitude to Russia and the Russian Orthodoxy was really warm. He knew that it was difficult to live under the atheistic regime and understood that the Russian Orthodox Church needed assistance. He dreamed of visiting Russia and was always ready for cooperation," Krasikov noted.

According to him, "the Roman Catholic Church has been rendering financial assistance to the Orthodox Church for over ten years."

"I am not sure that the new Pope will be willing to visit Russia and cooperate with the Russian Orthodox Church. There are many conservative people in the Vatican," Anatoly Krasikov emphasized.